In the building and upkeep of turf as is now found in the average home lawn, or in large areas such as golf courses or parks, the ground requires preparation in the building of a lawn and maintaining of the turf after the lawn has been started. Different lawns, depending upon the individual characteristics of the terrain, the location and environment of the lawn, the climate, the previous amount of attention and care given to lawn or the terrain, and many other factors, require different treatments.
Different treatments for different lawns consist of the spreading of various types of seed, fertilizers, insecticides, crab grass control agents and various other materials used for the proper lawn maintenance. The specific materials to be applied to the lawn and the specific proportions of application of the materials are dependent upon the specific condition of the individual lawn to be treated.
As was discussed in detail in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,446,165, the various types of equipment used for lawn care or turf treatment are generally antiquated. Even the more up to date equipment comprise disadvantages that adversely affect the efficiency and capability of the operation of equipment. Examples of these disadvantages and problems are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,814 provides a spraying apparatus for dispensing a liquid fertilizer from a container onto the surface to be treated. The disadvantage inherent to this invention is that only liquid lawn treatment materials may be dispensed. Additionally, only one type of treatment liquid may be dispensed at one time. Dispensing of more than one type of liquid requires the duplicating of work, i.e., dispensing of the first liquid and then repeating the same procedure for all subsequent liquids to be dispensed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,446,165 and 3,544,013 provide an apparatus for dispensing different types of lawn treatment materials simultaneously. However, the apparatus provided are so large as to require motor vehicles to tow them when they are to be used. This can be a financial burden to the average homeowner who is in no position to purchase a vehicle specially suited for this purpose. Additionally, there is no convenient means for momentarily stopping the spinner from rotating when the apparatus is in motion, i.e., turning a corner or changing the position of the apparatus, when spreading is not desired and the rotating of the spinner constitutes a waste of electrical energy. Furthermore, there is no provision in this invention for shifting the position of the rotor (which dispenses the treating material) relative to the body of the spreader and thereby enabling the operator to spread material over a wider area of lawn on one side of the spreader cart as compared to the other side.